To Respect One’s Parents
Parents have a high position, as they are responsible for giving birth to children and for raising them. That is why Islam has recommended people to always accord due respect to the parents:
“And We have enjoined on man (to be good) to his parents: in travail upon travail did his mother bear him, and in years twain was his weaning: (hear the command), "Show gratitude to Me and to thy parents: to Me is (thy final) Goal. “But if they strive to make thee join in worship with Me things of which thou hast no knowledge, obey them not; yet bear them company in this life with justice (and consideration), and follow the way of those who turn to me (in love): in the end the return of you all is to Me, and I will tell you the truth (and meaning) of all that ye did."” (Luqman: 14 and 15)
Some of the benefits of having respect for one’s parents are:
1. God’s Happiness
Prophet Muhammad said, “God becomes happy when parents are happy and he becomes sad when they are sad.”
Imam Ali said, “Being nice to parents is our greatest duty and is one of the best attributes of each person.”
2. God’s Reward
Prophet Muhammad said, “God rewards one who looks to his parents with affection, as much as he rewards those who go to Mecca on pilgrimage.”
“What if one looks at his parents with affection a hundred times a day?” Asked his companions.
“God will reward him in return for every affectionate look, even if there are a hundred time,” replied Prophet Muhammad.
3. Long life
Prophet Muhammad said, “One lives a longer life and earns more, who is nice to his parents.”
He also said, “God grants a long life to the one who pays visits to his parents and relatives and who has respects for his neighbours.”
4. Repay
Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ali both said, “Be nice to your parents if you want your children to be nice to you.”
Imam Sadiq said, “Be nice to your fathers, so that your children are nice to you.”
5. Mercy on the Doomsday
Prophet Muhammad says, “If one is nice to his parents, God will have mercy on him on the day of Judgment.”
A man asked Prophet Muhammad about the role of parents in one’s life. Prophet Muhammad told him that parents were one’s Heaven and Hell (meaning could cause a person to enter Heaven or Hell).
6. Entrance to Heaven
A man went to Prophet Muhammad and asked if he had to take part in the war. Prophet Muhammad asked if his parents were alive. When the man said that they were, Prophet Muhammad said that he had to stay with them and take care of them, as that would grant him the Heaven.
Translated by: Sadroddin Musawi
Other links:
Consequences of Unlawful Money in One’s Life
How to Treat Subordinates?
Postponing the Repentance
Music in Heaven
Backbiting= Eating the flesh of your dead brother
